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By Shaun Bailey, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
Once per year, southern New Jersey celebrates its maritime roots at a two-day festival called Delaware Bay Days. This year’s 17th annual event will feature a theme of “Folklife & Seafood” on Saturday, June 13, in Bivalve and Port Norris, New Jersey, as well as a theme of “Watercraft & Wildlife” on Sunday, June 14, beside Mauricetown’s Lake Audrey.
Delaware Bay Days is a free festival organized by the Bayshore Discovery Project, a nonprofit perhaps best known for the A.J. Meerwald, a 1928 oyster schooner that now serves as New Jersey’s official tall ship. At just 60 miles from Atlantic City, Camden and Wilmington, this event makes for an easy and inexpensive option for anyone seeking a day trip on a budget.
The first day of this family-friendly weekend will be kicked off with a street parade that features many floats donning Delaware Bay-themed decor. It will also be capped off with an exciting oyster-shucking competition at 6 p.m. Other activities will include:
Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Blue crab picking demonstrations, and a contest
- Demonstrations by a blacksmith, boat builder, and decoy carver, among others
- Environmental and history exhibits
- Food Ways demonstrations
- Live multicultural bands
- Maurice River cruises aboard the A.J. Meerwald ($10 adults/seniors, $5 kids)
- Wine tasting
- Shuttles to Beaver Dam for Glades Boat Tours ($5)
- Shuttles to tour the nearby East Point Lighthouse
- For the kids: a build-a-boat activity, costumes, blue crab races, crafts, games, a puppet theater and more
Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m.
- Archery and BB-gun shooting
- Botany walks
- Canoe, kayak, sailboat, and skiff demonstrations and tryouts
- Retriever dog demonstrations
- Watercraft and decoy exhibits
- More to be announced
Visitors will also have an opportunity to satisfy their hunger with fresh seafood, soul food, and homemade fare. One of the most popular items on hand will be fresh Delaware Bay oysters. The harvest of this shellfish made rich men out of residents in appropriately-named towns like Bivalve and nearby Shellpile, but nowadays this species is struggling to survive. This and other South Jersey stories are sure to captivate during your visit.
On Saturday, don’t miss your chance to tour the ongoing restoration of the Bayshore Discovery Project’s Bivalve Shipping Sheds and Wharves. Once completed, these historic buildings will house a new Delaware Bay Museum. This gallery of artifacts and photographs will one day depict the richness of Delaware Bay’s resources, history, and culture. But why wait when you can get a sneak peak now? View some of the displays during this year’s Delaware Bay Days.
Please call the Bayshore Discovery Project at (856) 785-2060 for more information, or visit www.AJMeerwald.org. To find a hotel room, start your search at www.MoretoOffer.com, or simply call (866) 866-MORE.
Horseshoe crabs save countless lives. The Nature Conservancy’s work in the heart of the Delaware Bayshores to protect this natural phenomenon. See how The Nature Conservancy is returning the favor. |
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